'He never used the party's cars and always was chauffeured in a private car.' On May 17, a day after his historic victory, Narendra Modi returned triumphantly to his old home at Ashoka Road where he lived as the party general secretary in the late 1990s. A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com meets folks who worked with him in the capital at that time. A rare glimpse of our next prime minister.
Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, whom Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav earlier gave a berth in the Rajya Sabha, was the surprise entry even for senior ministers who were seen asking each other about the background of the man from Punjab.
Summary of I-League football matches played across India on Friday.
National football coach Stephen Constantine named 32 probables on Wednesday for India's upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup joint qualification Round 1 home and away matches against Nepal. India first host Nepal on March 12 at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium in Sajusarai, Guwahati, while the return leg is slated to be played in Nepal on March 17.
Stiven Mendoza scored the first hat-trick of the tournament as Chennaiyin FC thrashed FC Goa 4-0 in a third round match of Indian Super League football in Margao on Sunday.
Suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist Shahzad Ahmed, convicted in the 2008 Batla House encounter case, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday by a Delhi court for killing decorated police officer M C Sharma and injuring two other cops.
Languishing at the bottom of the heap in the ongoing I-League, Churchill Brothers showed remarkable resilience as they outclassed a formidable Sporting Clube de Goa 3-1 to win their maiden Federation Cup title at the floodlit Nehru Stadium in Kochi.
Mohun Bagan's chances of making it to the semi-finals hit a roadblock when they were held to a 1-1 draw by gritty Pune FC in their second group league encounter of the Federation Cup football tournament, in Vasco, Goa on Tuesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Chennaiyin FC produced a crushing performance to beat Pune City FC 3-1 as they pipped Atletico de Kolkata to the top spot in the points table of the Indian Super League on Wednesday.
Lone suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad was today convicted in the 2008 Batla House encounter case by a Delhi court for murdering a police inspector and assaulting other officers.
The Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court heard that the attacker, Karl Anderson, had 25 convictions for 37 offences, including football-related violence, the BBC reported. The 29-year-old will pay a 100 pound ($134) fine.
'...that it cannot accommodate dissent and objection.' 'Are its foundations so delicate that it feels endangered even in instances outside of armed rebellions?' 'The question that needs to be asked of the political supporters of such laws is not why they are confident of the importance of the law on sedition.' 'It is instead why they are lacking in such confidence about India.'
Rangdajied United FC turned in an impressive display but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with defending champions Churchill Brothers in the I-League match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Shillong, on Thursday.
Ranti Martins missed a penalty and the chance to score his 200th goal in the country's top league.
'Afzal Guru was convicted of supporting the attack on India's Parliament. The Supreme Court said "the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded" to Guru.' 'Till we can think up similar justifications for hanging non-Muslims, I do not think we can delink terrorism from religion in our minds,' argues Aakar Patel.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
'I got to know the men accused of the blasts regularly meeting them in court and jail. Some of them, like Dutt, are back in jail. Others, like Mohammed Jindran, a quiet and well spoken middle class man, were killed. And now of course Yakub is ready to be hanged. The first in the case to do so,' says Aakar Patel.
Churchill Brothers paid dearly for a missed penalty in the first half as Mumbai FC struck twice in the second half to score their first win in the third round of the Airtel I-League in Mapusa on Saturday.
The burning of a Dalit house has put Sunpedh on tenterhooks, and overenthusiastic politicians and activists aren't helping matters.
'Criticism that Amnesty is interested in those in favour of independence for Kashmir is unfounded.'
Harassment, corruption and the burden of compound interest for years are also the reasons.
The tragedy is that, at least on social media, the narrative that was being lapped up by many Indian Muslims was that Yakub Memon was being victimised. The purveyors of this poisonous line of thinking of course want this sentiment to grow since communal polarisation is the primary pillar of their political strategy, says Sushant Sareen.